NZ stocks: Punters await Fletcher Energy, Telecom

The sharemarket was dominated yesterday by speculation over the future of big companies Fletcher Energy and Telecom.

Energy punters keenly awaited today's Commerce Commission ruling on whether Royal Dutch Shell can buy the company, pushing Fletcher Energy shares up 5c to $8.50 by close.

"The market is starting to believe that Shell's offer to divest further gas assets will be enough to put it over the line and get approval from the Commerce Commission," said Shane Gavegan of Deutsche Securities.

Telecom turned over a brisk $61 million in shares, fuelled by Australian newspaper reports that company chief Theresa Gattung will soon issue a blueprint for a restructure of its Australian operations as a forerunner to a bid for the $A15 billion-plus ($20 billion-plus) mobile business of Cable & Wireless Optus.

Telecom ended down 1c at $5.82.

Among the other Fletcher listings, Building was down 3c at $2 and Forests was unchanged at 27, while its rights topped the exchange's top-10 by turnover, a flurry of bargain-hunters turning over 39 million rights shares.

"A lot of people sold out before the rights issue in Forests and now they are starting to think that it is good value around these levels," Mr Gavegan said. "Most brokers in a genuine scenario would have it valued around 0.50c to 0.60c."

DB Group was up 15c at $3.50 in very light trade. Steel and Tube Holdings dropped 2c after its chairman, Bob Every, said at the annual meeting that trading conditions in the industrial sector remained fragile.

After the market closed, Pyne Gould bid $1.07 a share for the half of cashed-up utilities investor South Eastern Utilities that it does not already own. The shares last traded at 93c.

Air NZ B shares lost 2c to $1.98 and AMP came off its recent highs to finish down 5c at $24.40.

Axa Asia dropped 8c to $3.97 and IT Capital lost a cent to 23 after its results announcement. The Warehouse was up 5c to 680.

- NZPA